Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sky Watching

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners examine telescopes and understand how they have helped us better understand the sky.  In this astronomy activity students complete a worksheet and a lab activity.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Nine in the Sky

For Teachers 1st
First graders explore the day and night sky and complete a page for the number 9 for their counting book.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Solar System: Let's Take a Trip

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders consider outer space. For this introductory solar system lesson, 3rd graders complete a KWL chart and listen to the story The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System, by Joanna Cole & Bruce Degen. They will...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Space, the Final Frontier...

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students study a common theory on how the solar system was formed and examine the relative scale of the size and distances among the bodies of the Solar System.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Investigating the Dynamic Martian Polar Caps

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students download NASA Hubble Space Telescope images of the Martian polar ice caps in summer and winter, and measure and compare various images of the changing Martian and Earth polar ice caps.
Lesson Plan
University of Arizona

The Exotic Vacation

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students explain the concepts and vocabulary of Earth's rotation. They plan imaginary vacations based on the seasons in different locations. This is a very creative lesson plan, which students enjoy.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Comets And Meteor Showers

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students fill in a diagram of a comet. They listen to a short lecture, view flash animation descriptions of comets and meteors and then use the presented information to complete a worksheet.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Waterskiing in Circles

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars discuss and give examples of Newton's three laws. They then answer questions in reference to Newton's three laws. One example of the questions that students answer is: A water-skier typically uses a 75 foot tow rope. The...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Everything's Connected

For Teachers 1st - 6th
Learners explore how trash decomposes. In this ecosystem lesson, students discuss new vocabulary words, such as producers and consumers, and think critically to answer how landfills work.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Climate change in Canada

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students investigate the impact of human activity on the environment.  In this secondary math/science lesson, students analyze and interpret information from data and graphs as they investigate trends in climate change and the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Constellations

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars explore the major constellations. After reviewing the Earth's basic motions and their significance, students discuss the moon's orbit and revolutions. Using a Digitarium Alpha portable planetarium projector, they observe...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Difference Between Comets, Meteors And Asteroids

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students use Venn diagrams to highlight the similarities and differences between comets, meteors, and asteroids.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gravity - The Glue of the Universe

For Teachers 2nd - 7th
Students explore physics by conducting a class experiment. For this gravitational force lesson, students define several scientific terms associated with force. Students utilize a styrofoam cup and marbles to simulate a satellite crashing...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ptolemy, Copernicus, & the Church

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students determine the difference between a geocentric universe and a heliocentric universe.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Images of Our Changing Earth

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students identify and explain that remote sensing can detect changes on the Earth's surface that occur over time, and name at least three: urbanization, deforestation, and succession. They select a global change issue to investigate and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ptolemy, Copernicus, & the Church

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students explore the scientific revolution. In this scientific revolution lesson, students complete activities regarding Ptolemy, Copernicus, and the Church.
Lesson Plan
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Understanding Climate

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders create two dioramas out of household materials to compare the influence of various factors that impact climate. Each group discuss how the change in factors influenced the climate, flora, and fauna of their area.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Clouds and Rain

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Students study how clouds form, what different types there are and what rain is.  In this atmospheric lesson plan students make a cloud and create evaporation.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Kepler's 3rd Law

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners derive the velocity in a circular orbit of any radius. They derive the Earth escape velocity and prove Kepler's 3rd law for circular orbits # A simple formula for the orbital period in a circular Earth orbit of given radius.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Lunar and Terrestrial Tug of War

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders, in groups, locate, comprehend, interpret, and evaluate information about celestial bodies that influence ocean tides on Earth. They apply this information through graphic representations.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gravity and Layers of Air

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students actively look and listen as their teacher provides transparencies to show how the atmosphere is made up of layers. In this atmosphere lesson plan, students discuss the atmosphere in terms of layers and how gravity pulls...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Shine On, Moon

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore space science by conducting an experiment in class. In this Moon instructional activity, students define a list of space science vocabulary and read the book The Moon. Students utilize shoeboxes and string to conduct a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Embrace Space

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students use the internet to gather informatino about the solar system and space. In groups, they create a slideshow in which they use illustrations from the internet and include their own text. They complete the lesson by going on a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Star Frames

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders study constellations. In this space science instructional activity, 4th graders discover what makes stars, how bright stars are, and why constellations were created. Students make their own constellation using Saran...